


Force To Be Reckoned With

by Lastwaterbender



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy - Fandom
Genre: Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Cuddly Peter, F/M, Homesickness, Sad Gamora, Thanos is a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-24 22:53:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12022773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lastwaterbender/pseuds/Lastwaterbender
Summary: Gamora is feeling sad, Peter makes her feel better. She tells Peter about her childhood and how she came to live with Thanos. Gamora is a force to be reckoned with.





	Force To Be Reckoned With

**Author's Note:**

  * For [emorosadiaz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/emorosadiaz/gifts).



> This is kind of a prequel to Pikapegasus' "Paris of my childhood" from their collection 'Be my number two" which I completely adore, I was inspired by that story to write about Gamora's childhood in a fluffy manner.
> 
> Also inspired by the 'Fearless Girl' Statue in New York.

He had been watching her all day.

 

Gamora had been usually quiet, spoken only when spoken to and seemed to be going through the motions of the day. Groot, her usual source of comfort couldn’t seem to make her happy and that was when he had started to worry. 

 

She stood in the makeshift training room on the Quadrant, throwing punches at the heavy bag that hung from the corner, though she hit it ferociously-her heart wasn’t in it and it hurt Peter to watch from his own corner, ducking punches from Drax. 

 

Eventually, after being punched in the gut a third time, Drax took the hint that Peter wasn’t focusing on the training session and excused himself for a shower, leaving the pair alone in the training room. 

 

The bag took all of her aggression and eventually she slowed to a stop.  Peter watched as she breathed heavily, one breath, two breath, three breath and she didn’t turn around. Her shoulders didn't hunch over, she stood her normal ramrod straight. “You okay?” He asked from across the room.

 

“I'm fine.” Her voice soft and reached for the towel to wipe the sweat off her face. “I'm going to take a shower.”

 

She disappeared without another word.

 

/

 

He stepped into the hallway from his room after his shower in search of something to eat, when he realized that he wasn’t alone. Mantis came down the hall, she looked distressed as she headed to bed. Peter grabbed her arm gently to stop her. “Hey what’s wrong?” He asked.

 

A big, fake smile came to her face. “I am fine.” She answered, before she frowned. “Gamora is sad, and that makes me a little sad.” She answered.

 

Peter’s heart skipped a beat, it what he had been worried about. “Did she tell you that?” He asked.

 

Mantis shook her head. “I can feel it.” She answered. “She feels sad and homesick.”

 

He gave her a look, never had he thought to use the word homesick with Gamora. He gave a sigh and ran his fingers through his wet hair. “I’ll go talk to her.” He said.

 

“I think she would like that very much.” She responded with a nod before stepping into her room. Peter shut his door behind him and went in search of her. 

 

He checked the common room first where Drax had been sitting on a couch with his datapad in hand. He was reading something, not an uncommon thing but certainly not something that a lot of people knew about Drax the Destroyer-he was such a bookworm. “Have you seen Gamora?” Peter asked and the looked up from the screen. 

 

“She has not come down from the bridge.” He said somberly. 

 

Peter nodded and headed down that way without another word. He took the stairs slowly, to give her time to hear his steps as he made his way to the bridge. She stood with her arms crossed tightly across her chest as she started out the window. She was curled into herself and he could sense her sadness. 

 

Gamora didn’t react as he stepped on to the bridge and took three large steps before he stopped. He could see her face in the reflection, tears streaked her cheeks. He opened his mouth a couple of times, but couldn’t find the words to adequately fit the situation. Instead he approached her, his arms wrapping around her with his hands resting under her folded arms on her stomach. 

 

He pressed her into his chest and she melted against him.

 

Peter rested his chin against her shoulder, her sadness seeped deep into his soul and a soft gasp escaped her lips. He moved one hand to cover hers across her chest, his fingers tangling with hers. “I’m here if you want to talk.” He whispered into her ear. 

 

She stayed silent as she watched stars and nebulas fly past them. She sighed against him, her shoulders drooping slightly as silence surrounded them, even the ship seemed to surround them with a deep reverence. No music, no Rocket rummaging in things around them. 

 

A shuddery breath escaped her and he tightened his grip on her. “We are four jumps from Zen-Whoberi.” She whispered and Peter’s face fell, she could see it in the reflection. “We are in the Silcan System of the Milky Way.” 

 

A heavy sigh escaped his lips, rusting the hairs on her neck and making her skin erupt in goosebumps. “I didn’t know, I’m so sorry. . .”

 

Gamora shrugged against him. “You didn’t know, Peter. I did not expect you to know.” She said. “I haven’t been this close to my home world since I was taken.” Her voice was soft. 

 

He rubbed his hand up and down her lower arm and waited out her silence. “I thought about going back when I decided to betray Thanos.” She continued. “I thought about home a lot while I was being trained and it kept me from going insane. Nebula calls me sentimental, but I was old enough to remember all of it and every person I killed for Thanos, would get me one step closer to being able to make a break for it and avenge the loss of my planet.” 

 

He pressed his lips to the bare skin and the curve of her neck. “Why didn’t you go back?” He asked, they all knew why Peter didn’t go back to Terra was because it was where his mother died. Gamora didn’t talk about her childhood much. 

 

“Nebula knew I was sentimental and I knew that she would tell him to look there first.” She answered as Peter pressed a kiss to her skin. “My plans changed when Ronan came and my focus changed. I don’t even know what is there anymore. . .”

 

“We can go there, when you are ready-if you want.” Peter said quietly and she tensed underneath him. The thoughts of returning home was so overwhelming that it nearly stopped her heart beating, she was homesick for the home she never had and now she had the chance. . . 

 

She shuddered again, turning around in his arms and rested her forehead against his collarbone and her hands around his waist. He wrapped his arms tightly around her to keep her steady. “I don’t know if I will ever be ready.” She whispered against him. 

 

“That’s okay.” He said, his lips resting on the top of her head. “But if you ever change your mind, I will go with you.” Her breathing hitched and her hands gripped tighter on his shirt at his waist. 

 

“I never cried for them though.” She said after a few minutes of silence. “I remember to this day my father saying, ‘Gammy, when they come in the door, don’t let them see you cry. Hold your head up high and show them that you are a force to be reckoned with.’ It was the last thing he said to me, we could hear the screams on the street and doors being kicked in. . .” Her eyes closed as she was filled with the images that haunted her nightmares, the smell of fire and smoke, blood curdling screams and cries before the inevitable silence. 

 

Peter’s hands ran up and down her back soothingly, her nose still buried into his collarbone. She took a deep breath and was filled with the soap that Peter favored and something that was inherently him, it pushed away the bad feelings. “They kicked open the door and shot my uncle first. Mama and Papa tried to protect me, he shot them and they fell to the ground. Thanos held a gun to my forehead and I did I was told. I did not flinch, I became the force to be reckoned with.‘Such a brave little girl. You are now my daughter.’ He called me his daughter in front of my family’s bodies, my Papa called out, he wasn’t dead yet and he shot him in the face. He forced me to follow him as he slaughtered everybody, and I.  . .” Her voice hitched.

 

He could see a tiny Gamora standing stubbornly with her hands on her hips as if daring the mad Titan to kill her. “Out of the millions of people, I was the only survivor. He only chooses one from each planet and I wasn’t the only. Nebula. Korath….” Her voice hitched again and tears started to fall. “We did awful things to survive. . . but we were all the same.”

 

After all these years, she allowed herself to weep for the loss of her family, her people and her culture. Peter tightened his grip on her, tears threatening to fall from his eyes as well. 

 

Sizable tears spilled onto his shirt, silently weeping that soon turned into intense sobs. Sobs that shook her body and he held on tight, riding out the turbulence that was in her soul as the weight of her childhood hit her after years of suppression. He brought his hand up and cupped his hand around her cheek,  gently moving her head up from his collarbone, resting his forehead against hers, their noses brushing together. She could see that he was just as devastated as she was that she was on this trip down memory lane. 

 

“Peter.” She cried softly.

 

“We’ll get through this.” He promised, brushing her tears away with his thumb. They had gotten through the aftermath of Ego and the death of Yandu together, they would get off this trip and far away from this quadrant as possible. 

 

She brought he hand up to rest on his face as her crying continued. They remained in this intimate position for a while, slowly breathing in and out together. Peter wanted nothing more in that moment than to calm her crying, so he comforted her in the only way he knew how.   He tilted his face into her palm, keeping their foreheads together, and kissed her mouth gently.

 

He pulled away before she had time to respond to his lips against hers. He moved his head back to its original position and she continued to cry, her tears becoming silent once again.

 

“Again.” She muttered.

 

He tilted his head and kissed her again, and she responded, kissing him back. They pulled apart after only one kiss, but their lips lingered near the other’s mouth.

 

“Peter.” She whispered. 

 

He pressed another gentle kiss to her lips and returned to resting his forehead against hers. She finally opened her eyes and looked up, meeting his gaze, her hand still tucked snugly around his face. 

 

“More,” She whispered against his lips.

 

“Are you sure?” He asked, not wanting her to feel overwhelmed. 

 

“More.” She repeated.

 

Peter did as she requested and kissed her again. This time, when they pulled their lips apart, they immediately leaned together again, instantly rejoining their mouths. He felt her begin to cry again so he moved his lips away from hers and began to kiss away the tears that spilled down her face, tasting the salty flavor on his tongue. She sighed as his mouth traveled over her cheeks, and she used her hand to steer his face back to her lips.

 

Their kisses were quick and lazy, and when they pulled apart, there wasn’t a sound. Their tongues never touched, their hands didn’t roam the other’s body, and their mouths weren’t devouring each other. Their kisses were sweet and soft as they poured their devastation into them. 

 

Gamora had never experienced this before. She had never kissed simply because it felt good to kiss or because it was a way to relieve stress, be comforted, or comfort someone she cared about. Kissing always tended to lead somewhere with her, but at that moment, kissing Peter, touching her lips to his felt better than anything she had done with any of the other men that had come in and out of her life though it had been a while. 

 

Her crying finally ceased, but they continued to share tender, passionate kisses. 

 

//

 

Kraglin was on the catwalk in the back of the bridge when he heard a sob. He looked towards the window and was shocked to see the Captain and Gamora holding each other’s faces and share soft, intimate kisses. Yandu always thought that the green woman was going to be ‘it’ for Peter, and he was right. 

 

Tiny footsteps from behind him alerted him that he wasn’t alone on the catwalk, he turned to see Rocket climbing the stairs in search of some parts, he assumed. “Whaddya doin up here?” Rocket asked. 

 

“I was looking out the window, but I’m going to bed.” He said, he didn’t want to point out to the critter that below them was Peter and Gamora. Rocket raised his eyebrow at his sudden change of demeanor and stepped around him to see the pair below. “Come on, let’s leave them alone.” 

 

Rocket opened his mouth to make some smart ass comment (Kraglin assumed) but a soft glare stopped him. “No, you can give them crap tomorrow. Let them have this.”

 

He closed his mouth. “Okay,” Rocket agreed, the last few hours with a sad Gamora had been awful-Groot had been sad. “Tomorrow, I’m going to them so much crap.”

 

//

 

Peter and Gamora pulled their lips apart with a quiet smack. He began to play with the ends of her hair as she slowly calmed her breathing. 

 

“I’m serious Gamora, if you ever want to go back, I will be right there with you.” He said softly. “I won’t think any less of you if don’t ever want to.”

 

“Thank you.” She responded and she shifted once again to bury head against his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around her. 

 

A calm silence fell over them for a moment. “Your dad was right though.” Peter said quietly. “You are a force to be reckoned with. You are kind, caring and so strong. You maybe the deadliest woman in the galaxy but you also have the biggest heart of anybody I’ve ever met.”

 

She bit her lips to quell her smile, it was the nicest thing anybody had ever said to her. Despite all the wrongs in her life, they all added up to the moment that she met Peter Quill and for that she would always be grateful. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek before a yawn escaped her mouth. “Are you ready for bed?” He asked, his hands rubbing her arms.

 

“Mmmm . . . Comfortable here.” She said, with her eyes closed. Her hands tucked against his chest, feeling his heartbeat against her fingertips. 

 

A soft chuckle escaped his lips. “I’m sure my bed is more comfortable than standing on the bridge.” He answered. “Doesn’t have the same view though.” 

 

“Few more minutes.” She said tiredly, she turned her head so that she could watch the stars pass them and maybe sometime in the future, they would be back in the same quadrant heading towards Zen-Whoberi, towards her home town and sure enough Peter would walk her through it. 

 

“Okay,” He smiled into her hair. “A few more minutes.” Even though he was practically holding her upright. 

  
Gamora sighed against him. 

 

Peter was her home. 

 


End file.
